10/16/2026
I mentioned Clarence Lewis "CL or Van" Van Derau in this Home of Tomorrow Post in August: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19k9BNJVqa/
Those Copies of photos and fliers came from the auction of a former curator...
this Post was Van's Collection, some Donated & some on Loan by his Grandchildren, the Wittmer Family, Thank You!
Van had an amazing career in Manufacturing, starting when he was just 14, in a sewing machine factory...
This Biography was written by the Westinghouse Staff, for his Retirement Party in 1957, after 35 years with the Company:
CL Van Derau knew what he wanted even when, as a stocky lad of 15; he shoved a pushcart through the streets of Dayton, OH in the fall of 1907. He wanted to learn something about the business of Plating and Finishing of metals...
He did learn something about that Process, and he was recognized as a national authority on the Finishing Process. He was one of only a few men ever to hold the Presidency of the American Electroplaters' Society for more than one term.
Van, as he was known to the men who worked for and with him, chuckled as he recalled his pushcart days. He was breaking into the business of Finishing Metals, then after a few months with the Dayton Plating Works. Saloons were his principal market, because the local taprooms prided themselves on keeping their electrical fixtures and other metal adornments, bright and shiny. He took back alleys from one saloon to the next, plying his trade of rewiring and refinishing the electrical fixtures.
Born on an Ohio Farm --
A descendant of a line of French Huguenots, Van was born on a farm near Marysville, OH on August 12, 1892, the oldest of five children. His Mother was a schoolteacher, and she started teaching her children when they were very young. By the time Van was eight, his Mom had persuaded her husband, that the family should move into town, because she thought the educational opportunities were better.
John Van Derau found a job as a Streetcar Operator, and the children began attending the Dayton City Schools. Young Van started selling papers when he was 10, working after school and Saturdays, but he soon decided there wasn't enough money to be made with just one route. He bought out other Carriers in the same vicinity, and it wasn't long before he was delivering all three Dayton papers, both morning and evening, and out-of-town papers as well.
Much against his mother's wishes, he quit school when he finished the eighth grade and looked for a job. He looked older than his 14 years, so he landed work at the Sewing Machine Factory for 10 cents and hour, operating an oiling machine. He didn't like the job, so he drifted in and out of several other Machine Shops, for the next year. Then he took a brief try as a Telegraph Messenger Boy.
One day he delivered a Message to the Dayton Plating Works, where he saw a "Boy wanted" sign in the window, and he promptly went to work there. Van became a jack-of-all trades, working at the polishing and buffing machines, in the plating room. The work interested him, and that interest had never slackened through the years. Young Van spent several months at the pushcart job, and returned to the Plating Plant. The President of the firm advised Van to get some schooling, so he took a three-year course in Chemistry and Mechanical Engineering at the Dayton Y.M.C.A.
First Automobile Self-Starter --
Van had some interesting tasks with the Plating Works, the earliest Wright Brothers Motors, were being made in those days; at the rate of one every three months, and Van worked on the Cylinders, which were brought in for Zinc Plating. In 1910 Charles F Kettering (from Loudonville and now with DELCO - Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co), brought in his first Self-Starters, and young Van plated the Bracket and other parts, of the Starter. He continued applying the finish to the Starters, until production passed 160 units a day, when Kettering installed his own plating equipment.
Van left Dayton Plating Works for a year, to handle the Plating Department for a car shop, but he was offered a Foreman's Job at the Palting Works, and he returned on his 20th birthday. Seven years later, in 1919, Dayton Plating began doing plating for the Westinghouse Plant, that had just been established, a few months before in Mansfield, OH; for the manufacture of Ranges, Irons, Toasters and several other Household Appliances.
Van, now a General Foreman of the Dayton Plating Works, attracted the attention of Westinghouse Officials, and in September 1922, he accepted an offer to set-up and Manage; the Plating, Polishing and Buffing Departments of the Mansfield Plant. He had 125 employees in his Departments, which was one-fourth of the total Plant Personnel at that time. In a few months he was placed in charge of all the Finishing Operations, including Vitreous Enameling. The Electrical Appliances made in Mansfield met widespread acceptance, and many Plant expansions were necessary. In 1924, Van made a study of conveyor methods used in other manufacturing plants, and he began laying out a conveyor system for the Westinghouse Plant.
5,000 Irons a Day --
In 1931, two years after Van had been named General Superintendent of the Mansfield Plant, he took on the job of re-laying out the Plant, to permit manufacturing of Electric Refrigerators. Production started in January 1932, with the capacity of 500/day. That would grow to more that 1,600/day, and after WWII would have to be located in a New Plant, that Van designed in Columbus, OH. Range production had grown from 175/day to 1,000/day; production of Irons went from 600/day to 5,000/day; and Water Heaters from 15 to 200/day... let alone the Roasters and other Small Appliances!
The Mansfield Plant was one of the most highly conveyorized of its type in the country, with more than 12 miles of conveyor lines; and several Conveyor Manufacturers set up Plants in Mansfield. After New Method Stove Co closed, Westinghouse took over the Mansfield Vitreous Enameling Plant that was across Fifth Street, and constructed a 1,000-foot Industrial Bridge, connecting the two buildings of the Westinghouse Plant. Van was appointed Mansfield Works Manager in 1935, when he was just 43, and when he started at the Mansfield Plant, there were about 500 Employees and when he Retired in 1957, there were over 5,000.
Van believed there were opportunities for young men then, as there were for him in 1920's. "I believe that chances for success are just as great as ever, for those who really are determined to be successful. I believe young men can progress in this world, in just the same degree, that he is willing to assume responsibility, and not wait for is to be handed to him", Van said. Van had a Four-point Plan for "getting on in the world"; that is: Organize, Deputize, Supervise and Dramatize.
First - Make your Plan, any Plan beats no Plan
Second - Be willing and ready to delegate authority to others
Third - Work with those you have deputized and make sure that the Jobs that should be done are handled
Fourth - Sell it to the World, a performance well done, should be dramatized.
